Processes for removing oil from solid oil-bearing products are known in the art. Some such processes occur in an extraction chamber where a solvent is sprayed or otherwise injected on the oil-bearing product, to leach the oil out of the solid product. There results a miscella comprising a mixture of oil and solvent, which is conveyed to an oil-solvent separation chamber.
Some processes make use of a liquid solvent which is liquid at given extraction temperature and pressure values, but which is normally gaseous at ambient temperature and pressure values. After having leached the oil out of the solid product with the liquid-state solvent in the extraction chamber, the miscella is separated into its distinct oil and solvent components in the separation chamber which is heated to such a temperature that the solvent becomes gaseous while the oil remains liquid, thus allowing the oil and solvent to be easily distinctly collected.
One problem associated to such prior art processes is that the oil and the solids will often be denatured by the application of heat to the solids and/or oil, which is undesirable. Denaturing is defined as any physical, chemical or molecular change in the solute or solid product. This is especially true, in prior art processes, during the separation phase of the miscella, where relatively high oil-denaturing temperatures are often reached.